To Hear My Angel's Voice
by Erin Salvatore
Summary: My take on the ending of "The End of the Affair." Damon gets frustrated by the silence in the car on the ride home from Chicago and he and Elena stop to talk. Damon's POV.


**To Hear My Angel's Voice**

**by Erin Salvatore**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Vampire Diaries. I'm just borrowing.**

**Note: I got the idea for this little story while watching a clip on YouTube from "The End of the Affair," where Stefan breaks up with Elena and I kind of wondered what happened during the ride back from Chicago to Mystic Falls, because both Damon and Elena were both pretty broken, Elena from the scene with Stefan, and Damon from nearly being killed by Klaus. No spoilers, just follow along.**

_Damon's POV_

I stole glances at Elena as I drove. She was clutching the charm on her necklace, her mind still trying to wrap itself around the scene she had just witnessed, visibly distraught by the words Stefan had said to her. I knew the feeling, since that asshole, Klaus, tried to turn me into his own personal Damon kabob. Fortunately, though, Gloria stopped him, saving my life. Now, I don't usually like witches, but I was grateful to Gloria for what she did, since she did tell me that she liked me more than Stefan.

When I returned to the car, I had seen Elena in the passenger seat, looking like she had been crying for the past ten minutes or so. I asked her if she was okay, and the only response she gave me was, "Just drive."

Poor thing, I knew a thing or two about having a broken heart. First, Katherine played with my emotions like a child would with a toy, then I had to kill Rose because she was dying from a werewolf bite, and then I saw Andie die at Stefan's hands. Okay, maybe Andie's death didn't count, because I told Elena she was my "fake girlfriend," but it still hurt. So, if Elena was hurting, you can bet that I was feeling it tenfold.

For a majority of the drive, it was quiet. In fact, it was too quiet. I couldn't stand not hearing Elena's voice. It was so beautiful, so soothing, and when I heard her speak, it was like I was hearing an angel singing to me, and to not hear her was making it hard for me to concentrate. I had to hear her speak, even if I had to force it out of her.

I pulled the Camaro onto a side road and followed it to the Beal Woods. Elena didn't know why I was doing this, and she would most definitely give me an earful, but that's kind of what I was aiming for. I wanted to talk to me and damn it, if this was what I had to do to hear her voice, even if she yelled at me, then so be it.

The second I stopped the car, Elena gave me one of her signature scowls. "What the hell are we doing here, Damon? I thought we were heading home?"

"Slight detour," I said, giving her a smile. Good, at least she was talking to me now. "Thought we could use a break."

I didn't give her a chance to answer as I got out of the car. Elena followed me about half a beat later, determined to know just what the hell I was planning. She knew by now that when I did things, I usually had a plan, and she wanted to know what I was planning to do by bringing us all the way out here.

"Damon, why did you bring us here? I know you said this was a slight detour, but I know you, you brought us here for a reason and I demand to know what it is."

Bingo. Just the cue I needed, so I turned and faced her. "You want to know why I brought us here? I was going insane back there without you speaking to me. The whole time I was driving, you barely said three words to me. The last thing I heard you say to me was, 'Just drive.'"

"I was upset, Damon," she replied. "Stefan just told me that he never wanted to see me again, and I didn't want to talk to you about it, because I know you'd probably tell me, 'I told you so.' You can't just force someone to talk to you, Damon, it just doesn't work that way."

I crossed my arms, giving her a stern look. "Yeah, well, I have my methods, Elena, something that you should know by now. We've known each other for what, a year? In that time, you must've figured some things out." I sighed. "I know that you probably don't realize this, but I like hearing you speak."

Elena blinked. "You do? Since when?"

"Since we met," I said. "Elena, you have no idea just how great an effect your voice has on me."

I studied Elena's face as I finished speaking, wondering how she was going to respond. She was obviously thinking about it, because she was silent for about ten minutes or so, which wasn't helping my nerves any.

Finally, she said, "Fine, Damon, since you like hearing my voice so much, I'll talk. As I said, I didn't want to tell you about Stefan telling me that he never wanted to see me again because you were going to tell me how foolish I was and that you were right all along, that he was gone and never coming back."

I nodded, remembering what I had said the night of her birthday, when she was accusing me of keeping my findings a secret from her. I had my reasons for that, such as not wanting her to get her hopes up. It reminded me of last year, when I had first come back to Mystic Falls, in hopes of finding Katherine. I was obsessed with finding her, and regardless of what Stefan told me, I still wanted to find her. Watching Elena obsess over finding Stefan brought back memories of that, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say she was a female version of myself, one of the reasons I was so attracted to her.

"You're right, I probably would've, even though I told you I was wrong after we got back from Tennessee," I said. "I didn't want you to turn into what I was at this time last year."

"Damon, that was different."

"No, it wasn't," I said. "I've watched you very closely during this whole summer, and the only thing you seemed to focus on was Stefan. As I watched you, I was like, 'Oh God, that's exactly what I did.' Elena, we're more alike than you think."

"Okay, maybe you're right, maybe we do have something like that in common," said Elena. "But, I didn't obsess about Stefan to the point where I wanted to kill anyone who got in my way, like you did."

"True, but obsession is obsession, Elena, no matter how you choose to look at it."

I carefully approached her and hugged her to me. Stepping back, I gave her a light kiss on her lips. I would've taken it further, but I didn't want her to think I was taking advantage of her when she was this vulnerable. No, I respected her too much for that. However, just as I was about to step back again, Elena grabbed me and pulled me to her, kissing my lips tenderly. I couldn't tell if she was kissing me and meant it or she was just kissing me to kiss me. I wasn't about to question it, though, just took it as it was given.

"I'm going to hate myself so much for this," she said finally. "But, I've had the right brother in front of me this whole time, but my stupid pride wouldn't allow me to see it."

I shook my head. "Don't hate yourself, angel. I never want you to say that you do. I love you and therefore, I accept your little errors in judgment."

Elena smiled and instead of answering me, she kissed me again, wanting the whole thing to go away, and in that moment, it did, and it was just the two of us. No awful break up with Stefan, no near-death experience with Klaus, nothing. And that, I think, was just as comforting as listening to my dark-haired angel speaking to me.

**~ FIN**

**Note: Hope you guys enjoyed this. I've been wanting to do my own take on the ending of "The End of the Affair" for a while now.**

**VIVA LA DELENA!**


End file.
